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Benthic foraminifera assemblages in turtle congregation sites along the north-east coast of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2012

Dola Bhattacharjee ,
B.C. Choudhury ,
K. Sivakumar ,
Charu Sharma ,
Sajan John ,
Satyaranjan Behera ,
Subrata Behera  and
Punyasloke Bhadury
Dola Bhattacharjee
Affiliation:
Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata (IISER-K), Mohanpur Campus, Nadia, West Bengal, India
B.C. Choudhury
Affiliation:
Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
K. Sivakumar
Affiliation:
Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Charu Sharma
Affiliation:
Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata (IISER-K), Mohanpur Campus, Nadia, West Bengal, India
Sajan John
Affiliation:
Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Satyaranjan Behera
Affiliation:
Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Subrata Behera
Affiliation:
Department of Endangered Species Management, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Punyasloke Bhadury*
Affiliation:
Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata (IISER-K), Mohanpur Campus, Nadia, West Bengal, India
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: P. Bhadury, Integrative Taxonomy and Microbial Ecology Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata (IISER-K), Mohanpur Campus, Nadia, West Bengal, India email: pbhadury@iiserkol.ac.in
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Abstract

Near-shore recent benthic foraminifera from three ecologically important (Olive Ridley turtle congregation sites) but vulnerable sites encompassing 23 sampling stations (12 in Rushikulya, 5 in Devi and 6 in Gahirmatha) along coastal Orissa, north-west Bay of Bengal (BoB) in India were studied for the first time for their composition, distribution and assemblage patterns. Thirty-nine species of benthic foraminifers (from 6 orders and 23 families) were identified of which all 39 were present in Rushikulya, 22 in Devi and 12 in Gahirmatha with abundance ranging from 35–2620 individuals/10 cm3 in the sediments. The communities across the sites were dominated by eurytopic rotalids followed by miliolids and textularids. Benthic foraminifer assemblages were found to be dominated by Ammonia species complex (up to 38% in Rushikulya, 64% in Devi and 22% in Gahirmatha). Agglutinated foraminifers were infrequent in the sediments (7 species in Rushikulya, 4 species in Devi and 3 in Gahirmatha) on the other hand, being dominated by Quinqueloculina agglutinans in Rushikulya and Trochammina macrescens and Ammobaculites agglutinans in Devi and Gahirmatha. The substrates along the study sites were found mostly to be sand dominated and in some of the stations sediment composition influenced the foraminifer distribution pattern. The present findings on the assemblage patterns of benthic foraminifers from three coastal settings in Orissa along the BoB are comparable with previous reports from other sandy coastal ecosystems in the world. Overall these data provide valuable insights into the distribution and assemblage patterns of benthic foraminifers from the BoB coastal regions.

Keywords

coastal OrissaBay of Bengalbenthic foraminiferaOlive Ridleys
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 4 , June 2013 , pp. 877 - 887
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012 

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